Hagon Shock Upgrade Triumph Thruxton, Bonneville, or Scrambler

I recently upgraded the stock shock absorbers on my 2013 Triumph Thruxton to the Hagon Road Shocks. While I’ve done a bit of buzzing around town since that upgrade, yesterday was the first time I had it out for an extended ride. The ride was actually my normal commute to work, and I purposely took the Triumph on some of the rougher roads that I typically avoid.

With that said, I thought it would be useful to give the readers of this blog my perspective on upgrading the rear suspension of the Triumph Bonneville lineup (Bonneville, Thruxton, Scrambler).

Why Even Bother Upgrading the Shocks on the Bonneville Lineup?

When I first got my bike, everyone was saying the first mod you should do is upgrade the suspension. Screw that, I actually didn’t think it was that bad, and besides I wanted some new louder pipes.

Well, after riding the Triumph Thruxton for 3 seasons, I actually started to realize how crappy the rear shock absorbers really are.

The roads in SE Michigan aren’t the greatest, and a number of roads out by me are just down right shitty. I’ve got frost heaves to deal with, and a road in my local township that has got to be one of the worst roads I have ever travelled on.

I really got tired of having my spine jarred every time I want down one of these roads. The one main road that I often travel, has frost heaves that go on for about a 3 mile stretch. I’m literally bouncing all over the place every time I hit one of these heaves, and I can fill the bump up through my entire back side.

This is why I decided to upgrade to Hagon shocks for my Triumph Thruxton.

Why Hagon Shock Absorbers for my Thruxton?

As you probably know, there are quite a few options that exist if you are looking to upgrade the rear shocks on your Triumph Bonneville, Thruxton, or Scrambler.

Hagon shocks appealed to me, as they seem to get great reviews and they won’t cost you a fortune. Sure there are better shocks out there, but I really had no interest in spending up to $1000 for a pair of Ohlins. I mean it’s a Triumph Thruxton, not some super sport race bike that I’m taking to the track.

My Hagon’s set me back under $250, that included shipping, so I thought that was a fair amount to upgrade the rear suspension. Anything had to be better than the stock suspension.

Ordering Hagon Shocks

If you are interested in ordering a pair of Hagon Shock absorbers, I highly advise you to contact Dave Quinn Motorcycles. Dave is a reseller of Hagon shocks, and he’ll custom fit these to your specifications. Much better than blindly ordering from another site.

Simply provide the type of riding you typically do, your weight, whether or not you carry a passenger or luggage, and whether you are looking for a smoother or firm ride. As Dave told me, “any Hagon shock absorber will be an improvement over the stock units”.

I had numerous email exchanges with Dave, and a phone call to sort out the exact spec I was looking for. 3 business days later, I had some new Hagon shock absorbers ready to install on my Thruxton.

Hagon Shock Upgrade Triumph Thruxton

Now that I had the new shocks in my grubby little hands, it was time to install them. I had never done this before, so I was a little nervous on how easy the task would be.

First things first, you need to get the load off the rear wheel. Easy enough if you have a center stand, unfortunately I do not. Plan B – use a jack to slightly lift the bike, just enough to lift that rear wheel ever so slightly.

Pop off the 2 bolts that hold the shock to the frame, remove the old shock (they’ll slide right off), and fit the new Hagon shock absorber. You may have to adjust the load on the rear wheel somewhat to get the fittings to align correctly to the shock. It was extremely easy with the jack, as I could simply lower it slightly to put the necessary load on the rear wheel to align the posts to the fitting on the shock..

Add some Loctite (blue) to the threads on the bolt, and tighten them down. Triumph recommends that you replace the bolts when replacing the shock, and I would strongly recommend that you follow the guidance (read on to see why).

The shock bolt size required for the Bonneville and Thruxton is: M8x1.25/20mm (25mm will also work).

Be very careful when torquing these down to Triumph’s recommended settings (28Nm or just over 20 ft. lbs.). The bushing on the shock is rubber, and if you tighten them down too much, you’ll compress the rubber and it will deform. So instead, tighten them down until you start to see the rubber slightly deform and be done with it. The Loctite will keep them in place.

All in all, it should have been less than a 30 minute job. It’s really that easy. I say should have been, that was before I cracked one of the bolts that held the shock to the frame trying to torque them down to just under Triumph’s recommendation. Which is why I’m recommending that you replace the bolts with new ones, and be careful with torquing them down.

The Ride With My New Hagon Shock Absorbers

As soon as I got my cracked bolt extracted, and the new Hagon’s on the bike, I was ready for a quick test ride.

One word – Wow!

I immediately took my Thruxton with its new Hagon shock absorbers to that one stretch of road covered in frost heaves. While the ride wasn’t the smoothest of rides in the world, the first thing I noticed was I didn’t feel the jarring in my back that I felt with the stock shocks. And it was definitely smoother than the ride with the stock shocks.

My commute into work yesterday was by far one of the smoothest rides I ever had on the bike. There are a number of areas on my commute where I just know to expect a bumpy ride, and the new Hagons just took everything in stride. It’s like night and day. Upgrading to Hagon shocks on my Thruxton made a huge difference.

Now don’t expect this upgrade to take the worst of roads and make it feel like you’re on some magic carpet ride. You’re still going to feel the bumps, you just won’t feel them in your spine any longer. On average roads, where I could feel the bumps from time to time, the Hagon’s completely smoothed out the ride.

Would I recommend Hagon shocks for your Triumph Bonneville, Thruxton, or Scrambler. Absolutely yes!!! By far the best upgrade I’ve done so far.

I should point out, there is a downside. Now that I’ve smoothed out the rear suspension on my Thruxton, I’ve discovered just how bad the front springs really are.

Comments

Good write up. I was surprised to see you’re in SE MI too. I’m hoping to take my ’14 Thruxton or my Speed Triple to Stockbridge this weekend. Maybe I’ll see you there? Wouldn’t mind swapping Thruxton tips.

Did you end up doing the front? Just ordered the road shocks from Dave Quinn and he suggested waiting to see how the rears improve the ride before moving ahead with the front springs.

As of now, with the stock rears, I know I have a problem with the feel of the rear, but I’m not sure I have any issue with the front. I think I’ll be in the same boat as you with being able to see the shortcoming of the front once the rear is sorted out.

I’m most likely going for the hagon progressives. Let me know what you did, if anything. Thanks!

Best upgrade I’ve done! I typically ride in the Milford/Brighton area. Unfortunately I haven’t had too many opportunities to get out this year, at least for a longer ride. Be on the lookout for a Brooklands Green Thruxton if you get out this way (don’t see to many Triumphs on the road out here).

So I did the Hagen road shocks and rode em last weekend. Certainly far fewer bumps that use my spine as a suspension rig. Seems pretty good so far.

Just did the Hagen progressives on the front today and did some city riding. Smoothed out the road a good bit. Didn’t do much for front end dive under hard braking, but I get the feeling that the bike is more nimble or compliant on curves and turns. There are so many front end options that I can’t even really understand. Emulators, cartridges, progressive, linear. La di da.

I don’t know if you’re aware of bonniecafe.com, but it’s one man’s journey taking a T100 and making it a cafe racer. He did a lot of upgrade walkthroughs and he ended up with tec progressives in the front (which are a tad longer than stock) and seemed happy. Price is about $50 better than the hagens, too. I’ll need to get out and put some more miles down to really get a feel for how the ride has changed.

I wish I could ride with the changes and immediately swap to stock to see the difference. I know it’s changed, but I wonder how much is placebo and me expecting the change rather than real deal difference.

There’s a bike show in Ypsilanti next weekend (the ton up) if you’re not already aware. Maybe I’ll see you out there. Happy riding!

I didn’t touch the oil. I’ve read so many different threads about this weight and that air gap – mind numbing. I ordered the springs from bellacorse.com. Mike, the owner, is a local guy from Southfield and very helpful. He said they’re a drop in upgrade, no muss no fuss. I’m happy enough with the ride with the new spring sets, so I don’t foresee getting my hands dirty with the oil. I’m not racing on the track and I’m not bounding up and down the sides of mountains, so I think I’m set.

I wonder with your bike, with the riding position demanding a little more weight on the front, if oil weights would be an answer, or part of one anyway.

My neighbor rides a T100 and bought some front springs from works suspension. It’s a dual load system. It fits two springs into each fork cylinder with a customizable load exchange. I’m very eager to hear how he likes it once he’s done the work.

I didn’t want to mess with spacer cutting and oil changing, so the hagens were an easy sell for me.

I’m not sure what to expect with the bike show this weekend, but I’m trying to get out to some things where I can see other British bikes, as opposed to Harley after Harley.

There’s another event closer to you at camp Dearborn on September 11 called the battle of the Brits. I’m hoping to check that one out as well.

And I swear, once my led tail light replacement comes in, that’s it! The upgrade are over!

1. How do you choose a spring for your front suspension? I know the stock is Kayaba 41mm forks with front wheel travel of 120 mm (4.7 inches). Hagon website parts list is hard to understand. It has the Bonneville and Bonneville T100 under the same category and for the rear shocks as well. I know the T100 is higher

2. For the rear shocks, when the OEM said 340 mm shock length, does it mean fully extended measurement?

3. By any chance, do you know the length of the 2015 Bonneville Mah Wheel shocks or where can I find it?

I can’t really answer many of your questions with much authority. I will say that the hagon progressives in the front are still there and I have no mind to change them. The bike moved exactly as I’d like it to. Even this weekend I had thought to myself how smooth the ride seemed to be.

I’ll point you to look up Dave Quinn and give him a call. He’ll be able to sort out lengths and such and match you with what you need

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